C01 French: Exchange Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Nc3 O-O 7.Nge2)

This game was played in the "atadros's mini-tournament V". I was 9th in the final standings of the mini-tournament with 5.5 points. Considering that I played 20 games, the amount of points I gathered is not impressive. My opponent in this game, negotium, was 5th in the final standings with 11 points.

I have seen the move 5...h6 previously played, but in this game negotium played 5...Be7. Both moves should be playable, one is not significantly better or worse than the other. While this game ended in a draw, it did have points at which one of the players could have directed the game towards a win. Probably the first clear mistake was played by me in the position below in which I played 33.Bb1.

The correct move was 33.Qe2. After my 33rd move, negotium could have taken a clear advantage, starting with the move 33...Rd8. In the game negotium played the less accurate move 33...Qf4, which let me off the hook a bit. I played another bad move in reply, 34.Rc4. After that I was clearly worse once again. 34.Rd1 was a better option. My opponent's advantage did not last long, already in the position below where negotium played 35...Qf6, the advantage had disappeared.

The game was fought quite evenly until I blundered with the move 40.Kh1 in the position below. Negotium found the strongest reply 40...Rd8 and I was clearly worse. Then I played 41.h3 and I was in a losing position or at least very close to one.

41.h4 was probably a better move, but I would have been in trouble regardless. Negotium replied to 41.h3 with the move 41...Nd3 and I was back in the game again. I was able to hold the position equal for the rest of the game and draw was agreed upon after 47...Qa1+.

[Event "atadros's mini-tournament V"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2016.07.24"] [Round "?"] [White "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Black "negotium"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C01"] [WhiteElo "1801"] [BlackElo "1925"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 {French Defense: Exchange Variation} exd5 4. Bd3 (4. c4 {French Defense: Exchange Variation. Monte Carlo Variation}) (4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 {French Defense: Exchange Variation. Svenonius Variation}) 4... Nf6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Nge2 {C01 French: Exchange Variation} c6 8. O-O Bg4 9. f3 (9. Qd2 Nbd7 10. Ng3 {1/2-1/2 (10) Winants,L (2535)-Zueger,B (2433) Kusadasi 2006}) (9. h3 Bh5 10. Qd2 Bg6 11. Nf4 Bxd3 12. Nxd3 Nbd7 13. Rfe1 Bd6 14. Bf4 Nb6 15. Bxd6 Qxd6 16. Ne5 a6 17. Rad1 h6 18. Re3 Nfd7 19. Rg3 Nxe5 20. dxe5 Qxe5 21. Re1 Qf6 22. Rf3 Qh4 23. Rf4 Qg5 {Mominova,L (1923)-Nakhbayeva,G (2339) Osh 2013 0-1 (43)}) 9... Bh5 10. Nf4 Bg6 11. Nxg6 $146 (11. Bxg6 hxg6 12. Re1 Nbd7 13. Re2 Bd6 14. Nd3 Qc7 15. g3 Qb6 16. Be3 Rfe8 17. Qd2 Nf8 18. Na4 Qc7 19. Nac5 b6 20. Nb3 Ne6 21. Rae1 c5 22. Ne5 Nxd4 23. Bxd4 cxd4 24. f4 Ne4 25. Qxd4 Bxe5 {Gruenwald,E (1989) -Tereick,B (2090) Willingen 2004 0-1 (60)}) 11... hxg6 {White has the pair of bishops} 12. Ne2 Nbd7 13. Qe1 Qb6 14. b3 Rfe8 15. Qh4 c5 16. c3 Nf8 (16... cxd4 17. Nxd4 (17. Qxd4 $4 Bc5 18. Rf2 Ne5 $19) 17... Rac8 18. Rac1 $15) 17. Kh1 (17. Be3 a6 $11) 17... Ne6 18. Be3 Rac8 19. Rac1 a5 ( 19... c4 20. Bb1 $15) 20. Qf2 {Black king safety improved} (20. dxc5 Bxc5 21. Bxc5 Nxc5 $11) 20... a4 {Black threatens to win material: a4xb3} (20... c4 21. Bc2 $15) 21. Rb1 (21. bxa4 c4 22. Rb1 Qa6 $11) 21... a3 22. c4 (22. g4 cxd4 23. cxd4 Nh7 $11) 22... Qa5 (22... cxd4 $5 23. Bxd4 Nxd4 24. Qxd4 Bc5 $17) 23. Rfd1 $11 b6 24. Bd2 {White threatens to win material: Bd2xa5} Qa7 25. Bc3 (25. cxd5 Nxd5 26. dxc5 Bxc5 $11) 25... Qc7 (25... cxd4 26. Bxd4 Bc5 27. Bxc5 Nxc5 28. Qd4 $17) 26. Rbc1 (26. dxc5 Nxc5 27. cxd5 Nxd3 28. Rxd3 Bd6 $11) 26... cxd4 ( 26... Qb8 27. Qf1 $15) 27. Nxd4 $11 ({Not} 27. Bxd4 Nxd4 28. Qxd4 Bc5 $17) 27... Nxd4 28. Bxd4 Bc5 29. Bxc5 bxc5 (29... Qxc5 30. Qxc5 bxc5 31. Bf1 $11) 30. cxd5 Nxd5 31. Re1 Rxe1+ 32. Qxe1 Nb4 {Black threatens to win material: Nb4xd3. Black forks: d3+a2. Black can be proud of that piece} 33. Bb1 (33. Qe2 Qf4 34. Re1 Nxd3 35. Qxd3 Qb4 $11) 33... Qf4 (33... Rd8 34. Qe3 $17) 34. Rc4 $2 (34. Rd1 $142 $5 $11 {looks like a viable alternative}) 34... Qd6 $17 35. Re4 Qf6 (35... Rd8 $5 $17) 36. Kg1 (36. h4 Kf8 $11) 36... Kf8 {Black king safety dropped} (36... Rd8 $5 $15 {is worth looking at}) 37. Rh4 $11 {White has a mate threat} Kg8 38. Re4 {Twofold repetition} Qb2 (38... Rd8 39. h4 $15) 39. Re2 $11 Qd4+ 40. Kh1 $2 (40. Kf1 $142 $11 {would keep White in the game}) 40... Rd8 $17 41. h3 (41. h4 $142 Qd1 42. Kh2 $17) 41... Nd3 $4 {forfeits the advantage} (41... Qd1 $142 {Black has a promising position} 42. Re8+ Kh7 $19) 42. Bxd3 $11 Qxd3 43. Qf2 g5 44. Rc2 {White threatens to win material: Rc2xc5} Qd4 45. Qe2 Qa1+ 46. Kh2 Qd4 47. Kh1 Qa1+ 1/2-1/2